Why I Am A Rotarian
August 5, 2007
 I
was inducted into the 'Thiensville-Mequon (T-M) Rotary Club near
my birthday in November of 1993. The T-M Rotary Club put me to
work right away as a member of their Board Of Directors. As the
Director of Vocational Service, it was not long before I learned
about the 'Four Avenues of Service'.
I was charged with membership
recruitment and the Rotary Youth Exchange Program (I think it
had a lot to do with my having been a former educator at the
elementary and secondary levels). With the assistance of the
Superintendent (who was one of my sponsors as I was fortunate to
have had two), I helped establish a 'Vocational Scholarship' for
a graduating student who anticipated going into a vocational
area of study at a college or technical school but without
adequate financial means.
In 2006, some thirteen years
later, that 'Vocational Scholarship' is still being presented.
Why do I tell this story many have asked? I tell it because I
believe it was an accident of fate that brought me from
Washington, D.C. to Wisconsin and to Rotary. Maybe it was some
'unseen presence' moving in mysterious ways. Whatever it was,
that Superintendent (now retired and a PDG) 'schooled' me well
when he said, "just get your 'ask' in gear and sign them up"!
He practiced what he preached
and I am where I am today because of this man (and so many
others like him) who introduced me to a world of giving that I
had never before heard or seen.
So, why am I a Rotarian? I am a
Rotarian because of the debt of gratitude that I owe the many
friends whom I have met and tried to emulate over the years. I
can only hope that I have grown into the kind of Rotarian that
those “vows of induction” said I should be back in 1993.
Ramon H. MacFarlane, Sr., Ph.D.,
PHF, PP (1998), RGHF Board
Member
Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club,
Rotary District 6270 (SE Wisconsin, USA
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